Iowa
Caitlin Clark wows the sellout crowd in Iowa’s rout of Northwestern on a historic night in Evanston
Few stars are in higher demand than Caitlin Clark. That proved true Wednesday night in Evanston as a sellout crowd packed Welsh-Ryan Arena to watch Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes take on Northwestern.
Fans arrived as early as 10:30 a.m. to jostle for position as close to the court as possible to see college basketball’s biggest star. Minutes before doors opened, the line for general admission seats wrapped halfway around the building.
“It’s the Caitlin Clark effect,” said Paul Alvarez, who attended the game with his wife, Tracy Futterman-Alvarez, and their daughter, Kenzie. “There’s nothing like it. I’ve been a sports fan for 46 years. I’ve been to World Series games, NBA Finals. I’ve seen it all, and this is up there.”
The game marked the first sellout in the history of the Northwestern women’s basketball program. As the president of Wildside — the official student section for Northwestern athletics — Kayla Cohen was used to a more reserved environment at women’s games.
“The last women’s basketball game here, I was Griddying (dancing) in the student section because I was one of, like, four kids,” Cohen said. “So this is a very different environment.”
The sellout crowd of 7,039 was boosted by a large and rowdy contingent of Iowa fans who packed the arena with yellow and black — and plenty of Clark jerseys. Even Northwestern season ticket holders — the Alvarez family included — wore Clark gear.
But Cohen and the Northwestern student section embraced the challenge of balancing out the excitement brought by Clark’s presence.
“I think the No. 1 thing is making it a fair, fun match,” Cohen said before the game. “We’ve got a lot of students here ready to be loud and ready to bring the energy to the Welsh that has definitely intimidated some other opponents. Our student section can be very loud and very strong. We’ve got a ton of Iowa fans in the house tonight so we’ve got a lot of competing voices, but we’re going to be cheering for our Wildcats.”
The fans supporting the Hawkeyes represented a vibrant mix: Iowa graduates eager to represent their alma mater and young fans learning to love the game by watching Clark.
Nick Foreman helped wrangle a group of 58 girls from the North Shore Stars, a local basketball program for fourth through eighth graders. Cat Arnswald was a graduate of Dowling Catholic — where Clark attended high school in West Des Moines — and brought her 9-year-old daughter, Nora, to see her favorite player.
On the drive to the arena, Nora told Arnswald: “I just wish that Caitlin knew that I loved her more than anybody loves her.”
Betsy Zurek, 46, was another Dowling Catholic graduate who was eager to see a fellow West Des Moines native thrive in Chicago. She brought her daughter, Amelia Lochner, 8, who dressed as Clark for Halloween.
Omolola Odugbesan, 11, and her younger sister, Olukeni, were most excited to witness a piece of history: watching Clark become the No. 2 scorer in NCAA women’s basketball history.
Clark reached the milestone in the second quarter. On one basket, she broke the Big Ten all-time scoring record and surpassed Ohio State legend Kelsey Mitchell (3,402 points) to move into second on the NCAA list. Four points earlier, Clark had passed Jackie Stiles (3,393).
Clark has 3,422 points after finishing with 35 on Wednesday in the Hawkeyes’ 110-74 victory. She’s 105 points behind all-time women’s leader Kelsey Plum (3,527). Pete Maravich (3,667) holds the men’s NCAA record .
The feat was a small reflection of how Clark has influenced women’s basketball at the collegiate level.
“She gives so much besides just being a great player,” said Jess Dejesus, whose son graduated from Iowa in 2015. “Talent aside, she just has a really big heart for the game. It’s sometimes hard to explain because girls like her come very, very seldom. We’ve been basketball fans for a long time, Iowa sports fans for a long time. And there’s been some great players but no one that rises in the way that she does.”
Clark has been a galvanizing force in her senior season, selling out every arena she stepped into. She and the Hawkeyes drew 9.9 million viewers when they faced LSU in the NCAA final last season, a record for a women’s college game.
But for longtime fans of women’s basketball, it’s difficult to predict how much Clark’s success will translate to the growth of the professional game when she enters the WNBA draft — either this spring or next year.
“I thought it happened years ago with Billie Jean King and tennis,” said Emily Beswick, who waited in line for more than three hours to snag front-row seats in the general admission section. “I’d like to see it happen for basketball and for the WNBA.”
That was a common theme of conversations throughout the night for fans of Clark and women’s basketball at large — for the sport to continue to grow, Clark’s success at Iowa can only be the start.
“It has to extend far beyond Caitlin graduating from Iowa,” Arnswald said. “That’s what will actually change things.”
With the college football season right around the corner, the Iowa State Cyclones will be hoping to have a strong campaign with a new regime coming in. However, a lot of their success might depend on one key player.
Following the departure of Matt Campbell to the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Cyclones saw their roster get completely gutted. Most of their players entered the transfer portal, leaving new head coach Jimmy Rogers with plenty of work to do.
Fortunately, Rogers and the coaching staff were able to get out there and bring in a lot of new players from all over the country. While Iowa State might be lacking star power and aren’t going to be as talented as they were last year, they do have a good amount of depth.
There should be quite a bit of competition for spots in camp, but there are some players who should clearly be starters that transferred in.
Pete Nakos of On3 recently predicted who would be the starting quarterback for every team in the Big 12. Unsurprisingly for the Cyclones, it was Jaylen Raynor who was the choice.
Raynor an Easy Pick
After bringing in the three-year starter from the Arkansas State Red Wolves, Raynor instantly became the favorite to be the starter for the Cyclones in Week 1. Him being predicted as that guy should come as no surprise, and his ability to play against elevated competition on a weekly basis will be key.
There is a lot to like about Raynor’s game, and he could certainly help Iowa State exceed expectations next year.
Last season with the Red Wolves, he totaled 3,361 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, and a 66.5 completion percentage. It was career-highs for him in all three of those categories, showing some nice improvement in his junior season.
As a dual-threat player, he also totaled a career-high in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. The junior recorded 423 yards on the ground to go along with seven rushing scores.
Overall, the numbers for Raynor were really solid, and there is reason to believe he might be even better in his senior season. For the Cyclones, with all of the new players on the roster, there will undoubtedly be some competition for starting spots around the field. However, it should certainly be Raynor who is under center to start.
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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Syringes from injectable weight loss medications are turning up in drug drop-off boxes across eastern Iowa, creating a safety hazard for law enforcement officers who handle the containers.
Sgt. Erich Lear of the Linn County Sheriff’s Office said emptying the drug drop-off box is part of his daily routine — and the box fills fast.
“It’s probably a 30-gallon tote, and I’d say 3 out of the five days of the week it’s completely full,” Lear said.
Needles found mixed in with other medications
Lear said he has noticed over the past five years that people are placing medicine, nasal sprays and syringes in the bin. He said many of the syringes come from people discarding GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
“That tote that I pull out — there’s nothing that protects me from needles other than my observation and using gloves when I sort through things,” Lear said.
The Hiawatha Police Department said it is also seeing an increase in improperly discarded syringes.
Where syringes should go
The Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency is the proper disposal site for sharps. The agency said it has seen syringe intake increase by more than a ton in recent years.
“We’re talking about two thousand pounds of sharps and syringes coming in,” said Joe Horaney of the solid waste agency. “Before 2021 we were around 1.9, maybe 2 tons a year — now we are over 3 tons a year.”
Horaney said any Linn County resident can bring syringes to the facility, provided they are contained properly.
“We just ask that you have it in a heavy plastic container — so one of those medically certified red biohazard containers,” Horaney said. “If you don’t have that, it can be a heavy plastic container like an old laundry detergent [bottle].”
A third-party company picks up the sharps from the facility and incinerates them.
Some drop-off programs discontinued
Lear said another reason sharps are appearing at drop-off locations is that some agencies have ended their disposal programs. The Marion Police Department said it stopped offering the service after people continued to place broken glass, liquids and other garbage inside the box.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
While most of the focus for the Iowa State Cyclones will be on the football program for the next couple of months, the basketball program will also be getting set soon for a new campaign. Coming off a strong season, expectations for them will be high.
The 2025-26 season will go down as a memorable one for the Cyclones. This was a team that exceeded most expectations and ended up being one of the best teams in the country.
Iowa State started out the campaign with a 16-0 record, and the group looked like a real contender. While there were some hiccups during a challenging conference schedule, the Cyclones were one of the best teams in the country.
In March Madness, Iowa State was a number two seed, proving to be one of the top eight teams in the country. As they get set for next season, their goal will undoubtedly be to be ranked highly again. However, they may have to prove themselves a bit.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN recently updated his very early bracketology report for the upcoming 2026-27 campaign for the Cyclones. After being a number two seed last year in the NCAA Tournament, he currently has them on the five line.
Iowa State Has Work To Do
While being a five seed in the NCAA Tournament would indicate a Top 25 season for the Cyclones, expectations for the program are higher than that at this point.
Iowa State has become one of the more consistent programs in the country over the last several years, and they will undoubtedly want to take a step forward this coming season.
Due to a lot of production leaving, it is understandable that how they are viewed now could be very different from how they are perceived come March. Due to all of the new players that are coming in, it is going to take time for them to gel.
The Cyclones have a few key returning players led by Killyan Toure, Jamarion Batemon, and Blake Buchanan. Both Toure and Buchanan were starters for the team last season, and that should remain the same this year. However, Batemon also played a significant role coming off the bench, and his scoring ability might put him next to Toure in the starting lineup this coming year.
Overall, while the team did lose a lot of production, they have a good amount of depth with the new players coming in and some key freshmen returning. If things go right and the team gels quickly, they should be better than a five seed.
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